Building for the Planet: 3 Steps Towards a More Sustainable Office Space

As an ever-increasing public environmental consciousness continues to slowly revolutionize every aspect of modern life, offices across the globe are beginning to put sustainability at the forefront of their design.

That’s why today, we’re exploring a collection of eco-friendly changes you can begin implementing into your workspace right away, ensuring both you and your colleagues are taking the right steps towards a greener tomorrow.

Bring the outdoors inside

Incorporating a nature-themed interior into your workspace is a trendy way to keep environmentalism at the forefront of employees’ minds. Office plants, in particular, are becoming an increasingly popular workplace interior feature thanks to their versatile ability to brighten up any space.

Look to invest in some aesthetic greenery and use them to decorate accordingly. Not only will they make your place of work look up-to-date with the latest in contemporary trends, but plants also boast several environmental qualities to help reduce the carbon footprint of your office.

For example, indoor plants are proven to reduce carbon emissions and naturally purify the surrounding air, creating a more pleasant working environment for your employees while simultaneously causing less damage to the wider atmosphere.

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Encourage multi-use

As a business owner, you can’t expect to be responsible for the environmental footprint of all your employees. What you can do, however, is encourage a greater awareness through the promotion of eco-friendly practices.

During their commute to work, your employees are no doubt on the coffee hunt. Whether it’s a frothy double latte from the local branded coffee shop or a quick espresso to go from the street corner vendor, throw-away culture and unsustainable packaging means your employees have most likely damaged the environment before they’ve even made it into work.

To combat this, encourage multi-use materials in your office by providing your staff with a complimentary work mug. Not only are these a positive way to reinforce your business’s branding, but they’ll encourage your staff to ditch the non-sustainable cups for a reusable alternative. Contrastingly, if your budget doesn’t quite stretch to be able to cover a free mug for everyone, ensure your alternatives still do their bit towards wider environmental efforts. For example, look to stock up on eco-friendly packaging options by supplying single-use cups as a viable substitute to the damaging plastic cups supplied with most water stations.

Be more aware of material choices

Your material choices play a significant role in the environmental impact of any building – and your office block is no different.

While you may feel that you are restricted in your interior choices within a rented space, there are eco-friendly material changes you can easily apply. For example, while carpet is a consistently popular workplace flooring solution, the off-gassing of harmful toxins and improper disposal of this material means it can be incredibly damaging to wider environmental efforts.

Instead, look to install eco-friendly flooring, being sure to dispose of your previous flooring solution in a green manner. Spectra Contract Flooring’s team of professionals offer a helping hand with this, reducing the amount of carpet sent to landfill by finding cost-effective reclamation and recycling programs.

Taking small, environmentally friendly steps can make a huge impact on achieving a greener tomorrow. Implementing these 3 simple changes to your workspace will help create a more sustainable office, keeping environmentalism at the forefront of your business’s mind.

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Elizabeth Raw works for R+R Packaging, providers of biodegradable and eco-friendly packaging materials for businesses within a wide variety of industries.